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The second half of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries were characterised by rapid increase in population, urbanisation and impressive industrial growth. It was also a period of rising crime rates and grave concerns about criminality. This podcast takes researchers through the various stages of the criminal justice system of the period and focuses on the various records created, from the commission of a crime, through the court processes and on to the records of punishment. Jeff James is Director of Operations and Services at The National Archives, and has previously worked as Head of Operations at The British Library, in the University sector and as a Submariner in the Royal Navy. Jeff has an MA in History from the University of Hertfordshire and has a particular interest in 18th and 19th century crime and poverty.

The National Archives holds possibly the greatest collection of untapped source material for heralds and heraldry in this country. This lecture examines evidence stretching back over eight and a half centuries: seals, illuminated manuscripts, medieval rolls, treaties, grants of arms, state occasions, architectural drawings, military badges and even wooden chests. The result is an astonishing and colourful display of what is often unknown heraldic material. Adrian Ailes is a Principal Records Specialist at The National Archives and in 1997 organised an exhibition on Heraldry in the Public Records. He is a Fellow of the Heraldry Society and an academician of the Academie internationale d'héraldique.

We all go shopping, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and many of us have also worked in shops. It was the same for our ancestors, and although the records may not always be easy to find, they are out there if you know where to look. There is also a wealth of background material to show us what our ancestors' shopping and shopkeeping experience was like.